Seeing Shen Siyuan ask him this.
Old Man Lu said with great certainty, "I'm not."
"Why do you think that?" Shen Siyuan was a little curious.
Old Man Lu didn't dare to hide anything and honestly stated his speculation.
He was a good judge of character.
The first time he discovered that Doudou and her mother could communicate, he guessed that they must have encountered some kind of great expert.
As for why it was a great expert and not a special Opportunity, it was because he understood Doudou very well, who, like him, lingered around her family.
The mother and daughter's lives were a simple routine between two points every day. If there were any special Opportunity, it likely wouldn't have waited until now.
The greatest possibility was that they had met someone.
The great expert was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see the mother and daughter separated, so he allowed them to see each other.
And just now, seeing Shen Siyuan directly refuse Jiang Wenxin's Compensation, he became even more certain that the great expert was a kind-hearted person.
Shen Siyuan, however, just smiled at his words.
"It's true that I'm a good person, but I'm no fool. I help Doudou because she is simple, kind, and has a Pure Soul.
But look at yourself, the Karmic Force is stirring the Desires in your heart, causing your disgusting appearance. So you expect me to help you unconditionally just because you say you're a good person?"
"But… no one is perfect… Besides a newborn child, who doesn't have Desires? How many people haven't done something to feel guilty about?" Old Man Lu defended himself in a small voice.
"That's not wrong. All people have Desires.
Without Desires, one can't be called human. But the biggest difference between humans and beasts is that humans can restrain their Desires, not indulge them.
Your Karmic Force Entanglement is obviously because you overly indulged your Desires when you were alive. After death, you became entangled in Karmic Force, which stirred your Desires and gave you this wicked appearance…"
Old Man Lu wanted to say more, but Shen Siyuan turned and went back upstairs.
Old Man Lu didn't dare to stop him. After a moment's thought, he could only pace back and forth downstairs.
In truth, although Old Man Lu was afflicted with Karmic Force Entanglement, causing his face to take on a wicked appearance, the Karmic Force wasn't very deep, indicating he hadn't committed any great evils in life.
Shen Siyuan was also aware of this.
On his way home from work at night, many ghosts couldn't even maintain their Human Form and appeared in all sorts of bizarre shapes.
But Shen Siyuan wasn't a saint; he wouldn't help just anyone who asked.
The fact that he hadn't already waved the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, sucked the old man in, erased his consciousness, and used him as a servant or as material to repair the banner was already a show of mercy.
Shen Siyuan returned Home, took a shower, and went straight to sleep.
The night passed without incident.
When he left for work as usual the next day, he saw Old Man Lu still pacing at the entrance.
Seeing Shen Siyuan come out, he greeted him from a distance but did not approach.
"Good morning, Great Master."
Shen Siyuan glanced at him but didn't reply, simply riding away on his bike.
Old Man Lu watched Shen Siyuan's retreating back and didn't follow. He just sighed and continued to pace in the same spot.
When he was alive, he never had enough time. He never expected that after death, time would be the one thing he had in abundance.
---
"Shen Siyuan…"
As Shen Siyuan was riding, he suddenly heard someone call his name from the side of the road.
Shen Siyuan quickly braked and looked over to see Lin Manzhi, carrying a bag, jogging toward him from the direction of the Bus Stop.
Then, without any ceremony, she sat down on the back of Shen Siyuan's bike.
"Sister Manzhi, why didn't you drive today?"
"I left late, so taking the Public Bus is better than driving.
Lucky I ran into you," Lin Manzhi said, her tone tinged with excitement.
During the morning rush hour, driving was indeed worse than riding an Electric Bike.
An Electric Bike was convenient, fast, and didn't get stuck in traffic.
"Have you had breakfast?" Shen Siyuan asked.
"Not yet. Want to go together?"
"Sure, I was just planning to grab something random downstairs from the Company…"
Lin Manzhi seemed to be in high spirits, chattering nonstop along the way, though Shen Siyuan couldn't hear some of it clearly because of the wind.
Although Lin Manzhi was usually outspoken and dared to say anything, she was actually a very measured person.
Even though she sat on the back, she didn't straddle the seat but sat sideways, holding a corner of Shen Siyuan's shirt with one hand and the backrest with the other, maintaining a certain distance from him.
Shen Siyuan parked the bike in front of a place called "Starlight Breakfast."
Their Pan-fried Buns were excellent, and their soups were also very good.
Shen Siyuan usually ate there on workdays.
"What do you want to eat? My treat," Lin Manzhi said.
"Six Buns and a bowl of Spicy Thick Soup."
Shen Siyuan didn't stand on ceremony with her and went straight inside to find a seat.
After ordering, Lin Manzhi came in and sat down across from Shen Siyuan.
"You still haven't answered my question."
Lin Manzhi placed her bag on the bench.
"What?"
"What I was just telling you. Do you want your big sis to introduce you to someone?"
"Sister, how old are you to start playing Matchmaker for people?"
"What's wrong with that? It'll save you twenty years of struggle. Don't change the subject, just tell me if you want to or not."
"Want what? I'm perfectly fine on my own."
"You're already twenty-six.
If you're not in a hurry, aren't your Parents?"
Lin Manzhi hit a sore spot. If his Parents weren't anxious, they wouldn't have called to trick him into coming home.
Seeing Shen Siyuan remain silent, Lin Manzhi added, "What, still can't get over your Ex-girlfriend?"
"Of course not. I can barely even remember what she looked like."
Shen Siyuan had dated a girlfriend in university, but they had broken up several years ago.
"Your mouth says one thing, but your heart says another. Let me tell you, this friend I want to introduce you to is very pretty," Lin Manzhi said.
"As pretty as you, Sister Manzhi?"
Hearing this, Lin Manzhi burst out laughing, revealing two rows of white Teeth that seemed exceptionally bright.
"Am I that pretty?"
"Aren't you just asking the obvious?"
"Too bad I'm already married, otherwise this sis would definitely give you some consideration."
"Sister, please spare me.
Don't poke fun at me. If my Brother-in-law heard this, I'd be in for a beating for sure."
"It's not that exaggerated."
Lin Manzhi didn't continue with that topic, instead pressing on, "So, are you going to consider it?"
As she spoke, she took out her Mobile Phone and showed Shen Siyuan a Photo of her friend.
From the Photo, she was indeed beautiful.
"Pretty, right? I'm only offering because it's you. I wouldn't introduce her to just anyone."
"Am I that great?"
"Of course.
You don't drink, womanize, gamble, or do drugs…"
"Sister, I feel like you're insulting me."
After breakfast, the two continued to the Company, but in the end, Shen Siyuan didn't agree to Lin Manzhi's introduction.
The reason he didn't agree wasn't that he wasn't interested, but that the girl was too beautiful.
Shen Siyuan was very self-aware.
As he was now, he was not good enough for her.
He had no house, no Car, and no savings.
What could she possibly see in him? So he rejected the offer directly to save himself the trouble.
It was another peaceful day at the Company.
He slacked off and coasted through the whole day, just sitting there. If Internal Cultivation were viable, Shen Siyuan would have definitely chosen it.
As it was almost time to Get Off Work, Shen Siyuan decided to stay a little later to test out the Ten Thousand Souls Banner on his way, but not to repair it.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't.
From the Nine Nether Demon Lord's memories, he discovered that the souls of the dead in The Great Wilderness were basically very pure, with few Desires. Even if they had them, they were the simplest ones, like wanting to eat their fill, own a piece of land, marry a wife, and have a child—the most basic of human Desires.
But modern people lived better lives and had far more Desires. After death, their souls were polluted by all kinds of Desires, resulting in Impure Soul Power.
If these souls were absorbed into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, forget repairing it; it would be good enough if they didn't contaminate it.
Of course, if he had Magical Power and the Ten Thousand Souls Banner wasn't damaged, he could use that power to activate the banner and refine these Desires to obtain pure Soul Power.
But the key was, he had none.
There were, of course, souls that were inherently pure and could be used upon absorption, like Doudou's.
But for that very reason, he couldn't do such a thing.
He couldn't let someone who was a good person in life not only fail to be rewarded after death but also have their Soul Scattered and Destroyed.
What kind of Hell-level joke was that?
So, Shen Siyuan's plan to test the Ten Thousand Souls Banner was to capture a few souls to serve as his Eyes and Ears. This was an innate ability of the banner that didn't require Magical Power to activate.
Although he was just an ordinary junior employee, having Eyes and Ears wasn't of much use to him.
But when you get a "new toy," you just have to try it out.
Just as he was thinking this, Doudou, whom he hadn't seen all day, appeared again.